Twenty-Three Wishes
by Luna the Zekrom
Summary: The day she meets Zack, Aerith privately makes twenty-three wishes about their potential future together. Zack doesn't know about them, but he still manages to make them all come true. Slight AU.
1. To Not Be Alone Anymore

**AN: Due to the fact that this story focuses more on the relationship between Zack and Aerith than _Crisis Core_ as a whole did, I've made a few changes to their scenes together and rearranged parts of the game's timeline in regards to the two characters. When I really got into writing it, I realized that their meeting and getting to know each other happened pretty quickly, so I wanted to slow it down a little in order to flesh out the early stages of their relationship better. I also wanted to put more of a focus on Aerith's Ancient heritage, since it was never really addressed in detail within any of the games within the _Compilation of Final Fantasy VII_ (as far as I remember) and goes largely unexplored in most of the fanfictions I've read, so I ended up taking a few liberties regarding her communication with the planet. For those reasons, this story is technically a slight AU** **.** **However, I'm not planning to make any large changes to the canon storyline or the overall dynamic between Zack and Aerith. All the tweaks I've made are to put more of a focus on the development of their personalities and relationship... and basically add lots of fluff over the course of the story. XD**

 **Any and all feedback is highly appreciated, positive or negative, as long as it's polite. Reviews really make my day and make all the challenges of writing (like re-watching cutscenes from _Crisis Core_ about a million times to accurately transcribe dialogue, interpret tone, and describe expressions, etc.) worth it. Thanks in advance for your support!**

 **Without further ado, I hope you enjoy the first chapter!**

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In her whole life, Aerith had never picked a flower.

She admired their springy leaves and bright petals, loved hearing their welcoming whispers whenever she arrived at the church, and liked to bring home as many as she had room for. But whenever she took flowers from the church, she carefully dug them up and transplanted them into pots, unwilling to snap their roots or break their stems, to hear the whispering of the planet slowly growing fainter and fainter until the flower withered and died and its voice was silenced forever.

She had a faint memory of a time before she lived in Midgar, passing through a park with her mother. As they'd hurried by, Aerith had paused for a moment to watch the other children her age, to see what people did when they didn't have to run away or hide all the time. She remembered seeing the children pick dandelions and blow away their seeds in what they saw as harmless fun. She remembered tears welling in her eyes as she felt the flowers' stems being torn carelessly from their roots, remembered Ifalna telling her not to wince, to act as if she didn't share the planet's pain.

"I know it hurts," her mother had whispered, squeezing Aerith's hand. "I feel it too. But no one else does and you can't let them see that you do."

From then on, Aerith hadn't spoken a word to anyone about her connection to the planet, not even her adopted mother, Elmyra. Elmyra could tell that something about Aerith was different, but she never asked about it and Aerith never explained. It would feel wrong to speak of something Ifalna had always warned her to never reveal, even to someone she entrusted with everything else.

But knowing that her mother was dead and that she was the last Ancient left in the world, a secret she could never share, made her feel very alone.

Elmyra never said a word about the flowers Aerith brought home, the way they survived, even thrived, under her daughter's care after she had spent years trying and failing to grow them herself. She only smiled at Aerith's hopeful expression as she came home with a smudge of dirt on her cheek and a flowerpot cradled in her arms, and went to go find room for another plant somewhere in their house.

Aerith knew they were running out of space, but she liked the steady murmuring of the flowers in the church and wanted to recreate the clarity of their voices in her own home. Maybe one more plant would strengthen the words that were too faint for her to hear anywhere besides the church.

She always hesitated to come home in the evenings. But she knew that traveling the city streets at night was dangerous, and so she forced herself to return before dark. Maybe if she filled her house with enough flowers to recreate the constant whispering that calmed her at the church, she would at last find some contentment at home instead of only the lingering restlessness which sent her wandering back to the church every day for hours at a time.

She didn't expect to find anything unusual today when she went to the church to pick just _one_ more flower to bring home (deciding firmly for about the third time that this plant would be the last), but when she walked through the doors, she noticed the difference immediately.

Instead of gently welcoming her, the flowers were humming with curiosity. The conflicting feelings of the flowers' interest and the pins-and-needles caused by plants being crushed attracted Aerith's gaze to the center of the flowerbed. There, she saw the shape of a person slumped on the ground, seemingly unconscious.

The flowers around him had been flattened, and Aerith could immediately tell that the person lying there had fallen on top of them from a great height. But where could he possibly have fallen from? The ceiling wasn't far enough for him to have hit the ground as hard as the crushed flowers indicated he had.

She looked up and felt her heart constrict in her chest as her gaze fell on a hole in the roof, through which she could see a patch of the sky. Just looking at the expanse of blue nothingness made Aerith freeze in place, her heart hammering in her chest. She curled her toes in a vain attempt to grip the ground more firmly; she couldn't help but feel as if gravity would suddenly give out and she would plunge into that emptiness, where she would keep falling and falling endlessly.

She didn't know how long she stood there, paralyzed with terror, but it was the flowers' murmuring that finally pulled her attention away from the sky.

 _Look over here,_ they seemed to prompt her, their collective mind buzzing around the person in the flowerbed. _This boy is the one who's going to change your life._

"He doesn't look like a boy," Aerith murmured, studying his muscular arms and the sword strapped to his back dubiously. "He looks like a man." Still, as she crouched beside him, searching for injuries, she saw that his face held more youthful stillness than she had expected to find. At closer inspection, he looked about her age.

She wanted to do something to help him, but it was hard to think past the tingling feeling of crushed plants. She would have to move him before doing anything else.

Aerith did her best not to drag him, but the boy was heavy and unresponsive to her touch. Still, she managed to roll him onto the tile flooring of the church so that he wasn't squashing the plants anymore. Once that task was complete, Aerith shook the pins-and-needles sensation out of her fingers and stepped back to think.

 _Where did he come from?_ she wondered. _And how did he end up here?_

Apart from a few scratches, he looked completely uninjured. _He must be pretty lucky... or the planet must have protected him from any severe damage._

Based on the rather large fuss that the flowers were making over him, the latter idea didn't seem too far-fetched.

Aerith was startled out of her contemplation by a soft groan from the unconscious boy, who was starting to stir a little. His brows furrowed in what seemed to be a worried expression. _Maybe he's going to wake up soon,_ she thought hopefully.

"Mom?" he murmured in his sleep, making Aerith jump. "I... I want to help out a friend. But, I don't know how I can do it..."

"Hell-llooo?" she called experimentally, in a deliberately light and friendly voice. He looked distressed, and she didn't want to startle him.

"Mom?" he asked again, but he sounded uncertain now, closer to waking.

"Hell-lllo!" Aerith called again.

The boy's eyelids slid open, revealing blue eyes a more brilliant shade than she'd ever seen before. Aerith studied them thoughtfully for a long moment before realizing that the stranger's gaze had focused on the ceiling. He seemed a bit confused, probably wondering where he was, but at least he was awake now.

"Hooray!" she exclaimed, and his eyes darted to her face. He still looked a little dazed, as if he was trying to figure out how he had survived his fall.

"Heaven?" he asked at last, and she couldn't help but smile.

"Not quite," she told him, shaking her head. "Church in the slums."

He sat up, and they looked at each other curiously for a moment before he asked, "An angel...?" His eyes were wide as if he was serious, but Aerith had been flirted with before and was fairly sure this was his way of saying she was pretty.

She shook her head again, amused. "No. I'm Aerith!"

He tilted his head to one side thoughtfully, but she didn't wait for him to respond. Turning around, she pointed in the general direction of the hole he'd made in the roof without directly looking at it, keeping her eyes averted from the frightening blueness. "It seems you fell from the sky—gave me quite the scare when I found you here."

"So you saved me, huh?" he said thoughtfully. Aerith had assumed he would be like the other boys who had flirted with her—playful, careless—and the pensive look in his blue eyes took her by surprise. Giving him a more appraising look, she took note of his ruffled black hair and the almond shape of his blue eyes.

"Not really..." she said, turning around and ducking her head so that he wouldn't see her blush. Now that she'd really noticed his features, it was impossible to ignore how strikingly handsome he was. "'Hell-looo!' That's all I did."

Aerith turned to face the mysterious boy again, just in time to see him roll back on his shoulders and then spring to his feet. She couldn't help but laugh a little. _How is he so full of energy even after a fall like that?_

He glanced at her as he straightened up, seeming pleased by her amusement, and then turned to face her. Now that he was standing, Aerith could see that while he was much taller than her, her earlier assessment that he was about her age seemed to have been accurate. His long black bangs framed an innocent-looking face.

"Thank you so much, Aerith," the boy said sincerely. "I'm Zack."

She glanced down at her feet, feeling a little embarrassed by his gratitude—she hadn't done anything, really—but managed a faint smile.

Zack folded his arms across his chest, narrowing his eyes in a thoughtful look. "I have to repay you somehow."

Aerith hurriedly shook her head. "Don't worry about it!"

"No, no..." he said, and there was definitely a hint of playfulness in his voice now as he turned and paced a few steps away. "Hey, how about one date?" He flashed a grin that made it impossible for her to tell whether or not he was joking.

"What is that?" she protested. "Don't be silly!"

Feeling somewhat flustered, she turned away and gazed out across the flowerbed. The plants still seemed excited by Zack's presence. She wasn't sure if it was their energy humming through her that was making her heart beat faster than usual, or if she really was developing a crush on Zack alarmingly quickly. Sometimes, being an Ancient made it difficult to tell which feelings were actually hers and which were the planet's.

Zack's boots shifted, making the old floorboards groan a little, and Aerith turned just in time to see him step toward the flowerbed.

"Stop!" she cried. "Don't step on the flowers!" She was too far away to physically haul him away from them like she wanted to. All she could do was flinch, waiting for the painful sensation of the plants being stepped on, but it didn't come.

Zack had paused without setting his foot down on top of the delicate blossoms, and was giving her a quizzical look as he stepped back onto the floor. "Excuse me?"

"Normally, people are more careful with flowers," she told him. The slight edge in her voice came from both annoyance with him and annoyance with herself—for being so obvious about her connection with the Planet. If he'd suspected she was an Ancient, he would know it for certain now, after seeing her flinch like that.

Thankfully, he didn't seem to find her behavior peculiar, and even had the grace to look ashamed. "Well... I guess I'm not normal."

Was it bad that she found that statement relieving? Aerith always worried that she tried too hard to find someone who was like her—well, at least someone who felt the way she did. There was no one truly like her left in the world.

But Zack's describing himself as "not normal" made her feel a little less alone.

Zack's gaze dropped thoughtfully to the flowers, and he seemed to truly notice them for the first time. "You don't see a lot of flowers in Midgar," he remarked, seeming impressed. "They're like luxury items around here."

"They only grow here," Aerith told him, a hint of pride in her voice. "Although I planted some outside my house too." _And inside. And basically everywhere._

"If I were you, I'd sell them," Zack said, walking off again, as if he didn't like being still for more than a few moments at a time. His voice took on a gently teasing tone. "Midgar's full of flowers, your wallet's full of money!"

"Midgar full of flowers... wallet full of money...?" she echoed. The idea sounded appealing, but it felt a bit dishonest. She'd always thought of the flowers as her friends, not as items to sell. But now that Zack had given her the idea, she really did want to see them bring color and happiness to the rest of Midgar...

 _What do you think?_ she asked the planet, being careful not to voice the question out loud like she normally would. She didn't want Zack to realize what she was. All of the flowers seemed to trust him, but Aerith knew what could happen if anyone figured out about her Ancient heritage.

She listened intently to the flowers' response. They didn't speak in words, so it was sometimes hard to translate exactly what they were saying. However, they certainly didn't seem offended by the idea.

She looked up and smiled at Zack. "Never thought of it that way."

He smiled back, and she felt her heart flutter in her chest. Yes, she was definitely starting to have a crush on him. There was no use denying it.

Zack walked off to look at the rest of the church with curious blue eyes. Aerith followed him with her gaze for a while before remembering that it was rude to stare and that she was there to take home a flower, not to gawk at a mysterious boy who she knew nothing about and commit his face to memory... however handsome said boy was.

She kneeled next to the flowerbed, scanning the sea of plants for one that stood a considerable distance from the others so that she wouldn't accidentally disturb the roots of any others when digging it up. As she picked one and started to carefully dig at the soil around it with gentle fingertips, she found it impossible to concentrate when the flowers were still insisting that _Zack_ was the most important thing in the room, that she should still be paying attention to _that boy right over there_.

She glanced furtively over her shoulder and saw that Zack was still there, looking at the windows with his back to her. _No,_ she told the flowers as firmly as she could. _I'll probably never see him again after this anyway._

They hummed loudly in protest.

"Can you stop that?" she snapped at them under her breath.

"Huh?" said Zack, and she turned around to see that he was giving her a curious, slightly puzzled look. "Did you say something?"

"Um, just talking to myself," she lied, turning back to the flowers and brushing her bangs forward to hide her face. She'd thought she had been quiet enough to prevent him from overhearing. Zack must have extremely keen senses.

"Oh." He sounded intrigued and a bit confused. But he couldn't have heard what she was saying, could he? He was standing all the way across the church, and there had never been much of an echo even before he'd punched a large hole in the roof. No one's hearing could be _that_ good.

 _Now look what you've done,_ she scolded the flowers, but they didn't seem to be concerned. Apparently, even if Zack thought she was weird, the planet was confident that he wouldn't mention it to anyone who would be more suspicious about it than he was. Aerith couldn't help but worry, but she also trusted that the planet would know Zack and his intentions better than she did.

She went back to digging, and was carefully lifting the plant she had chosen out of the ground when the flowers' murmuring spiked into sudden intensity. Aerith hurriedly put her plant into the pot she had brought and looked up to see that Zack had made his way to the doorway and seemed to be leaving.

 _Will he be back?_ she asked the planet hopefully, but its answer seemed to depend on what happened in the next few moments.

Zack turned around and surveyed the church thoughtfully before addressing her with a question. "So, are you always here?" She wasn't sure if she imagined it, but there seemed to be a hopeful note in his voice which matched the one in her heartbeat.

"Yeah," she said. It was basically true. She didn't like being in the house alone when Elmyra was out working, and left whenever she could. Aerith hated solitude; the house was far too quiet without her mother, and silence made her feel vulnerable. At least in the church, she had the flowers to talk to, and they spoke back in their own way, even if no other people ever came... before today.

"Hey," she said to Zack, standing up, "so where are you going?"

"Hmm," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm not really sure..."

Aerith walked over to him, wanting to be closer to him, not wanting him to leave so quickly. She gazed into his blue eyes again. They looked fascinating, almost as if they were glowing. Everything about Zack was fascinating. Wherever he was going now, she wanted to go with him, at least for a little while. "I'll take you there, okay?"

"...Where?" He shrugged, shifting his stance and shrinking the gap between the two of them a little. There were still a few feet between them, but Aerith could tell that her need to be closer seemed reciprocated.

 _Why does it feel like we're so connected?_ Aerith wondered, not sure whether to feel excited or frustrated. _In truth, I know nothing about this boy but his name._

That wasn't entirely true. She knew that he was thoughtful yet playful and that he liked her, at least a little. And she knew that her flowerbed, the part of the planet she was familiar with and trusted, considered him important and believed that he would somehow change her life. Those small bits of knowledge still weren't much, but they definitely counted for something.

She was startled from her thoughts by the realization that Zack was still waiting for an answer, though he looked content enough to gaze at her thoughtfully.

"Hmm, I'm not really sure..." she said, closing her eyes and trying to think of the best place to take him. Zack must have fallen from above the plate... What was the best way to get him back to the upper levels of Midgar?

"You just want to spend more time with me, right?" Zack asked, and when she opened her eyes, she saw that he was grinning at her.

Not really thinking about it, she nodded. "Yeah."

"Whoa!" Zack looked startled, and Aerith blushed as she realized that he must have been joking. Interpreting tone of voice didn't come naturally to her, and though she'd learned over the years how to tell when people were joking, humor still sometimes flew over her head when she wasn't paying attention. She was a complete social failure, especially with the constant murmuring of the flowers distracting her.

"Are you... Did you...?" He trailed off before he could finish either question, studying her with a kind of renewed curiosity, as if just by looking at her, he was trying to figure out who she was on the inside, the part of her she tried her best to keep hidden. Looking into those brilliant blue eyes of his, a part of her didn't doubt he could.

"Come on," Aerith interrupted, hurrying past him through the doorway, out of the sunlight streaming in through the roof and into the harsh indoor lighting of the streets beneath the plate. She didn't want to remain under Zack's piercing scrutiny for a single moment longer than she had to. "Let's go."

"This must be under the plate," Zack mused as he followed her outside. Glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, Aerith saw that he was looking around and seemed to recognize where they were now. "Sector 5... This is the slums."

Aerith nodded, gazing around at the familiar sight of cement pillars and greenish lighting. "Yeah. If you walk a little, you'll be in the central slums. There's lots of people, and you can go above the plate from there, too. So I'll walk you over there."

Zack turned to face her. "If I can get out onto the streets, I guess I can figure out things from there." His gaze lingered on hers for a moment longer than was normal, and she wondered if she was imagining the reluctance in his voice. It was gone by the time he added, "Okay, lead the way."

They walked together in silence for a while. Aerith did her best to study him with a few sideways glances, trying not to stare. She was pretty sure she failed horribly, but Zack appeared deep in thought and thankfully didn't seem to notice.

Aerith let out a small huff of frustration. She couldn't figure him out at all. Maybe it was because she was used to sharing emotions with the flowers, her only other conversational partners besides her mother, but Zack was extremely hard to read. She'd never met anyone like him before, who switched so quickly between joking around and being completely serious, whose tone was often difficult to interpret, but whose feelings were written so clearly across his face.

Suddenly, Aerith felt a shiver of foreboding race along her spine. The lifeless soil packed along Midgar's streets gave off very little of the planet's aura, but it was enough to give her a whisper of a warning.

"Aahhh!" she yelped, grabbing Zack's arm to make him stop walking just as the shadows on the road ahead materialized into a pair of spiky red-and-white amphibians. The creatures were terrible, not even part of the lifestream—Aerith could sense that they weren't really living beings at all. "Monsters! Zack, let's run!"

But Zack didn't budge, even as she tugged at his arm. In fact, he looked confident and almost pleased as he shifted his feet into a fighting stance and reached for the sword on his back. "Don't sweat it! I'll protect you. I'll handle it."

"You can?" she asked nervously, letting go of his arm.

Zack nodded sharply. "Just stand back, so you don't get hurt."

Aerith backed away, because even though she couldn't imagine how anyone could be so confident when dealing with monster, she trusted him. Still, she couldn't help but feel anxious as she watched the fight unfold, and didn't relax until the spiky creatures were definitely dead, melting back into harmless shadows.

"I feel so safe with you, Zack," she admitted, once she was sure they were gone.

"Is that right?" he asked, looking pleased.

"Yeah," she replied, a bit wistfully. She had never seen someone fight monsters like that—and come out unscathed. Whenever she saw monsters, all she could do was run away. She hated racing home along the city streets, desperately hoping that she'd lost the creatures pursuing her. "You can beat up monsters. You're so strong."

"Strong, huh..." He trailed off, looking thoughtful.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, a bit anxiously.

"No. It's nothing. Anyway, those things weren't tough at all!" Zack paced a few feet away, grinning again as soon as the danger had passed. Aerith couldn't help but feel uneasy as she realized how careless he seemed about fighting. He was agile and strong, that much was true, but monsters were unpredictable and dangerous. Sooner or later, he was bound to get hurt if he wasn't careful.

"So, did I look cool? A little?" He was clearly teasing now, trying to show off, but Aerith only frowned. She didn't want to encourage his recklessness.

"Hmm... Beats me," she said, a little coldly.

Zack looked surprised and a little hurt. "Aerith, in these types of situations, you should be a bit more..." He paused, searching for the words to express his thought, but Aerith didn't want to hear whatever he had been about to say.

"Hey, Zack," she said, hurrying off along the road again. "Let's go okay?"

"Uh, hell-lloo?" he called after her, sounding somewhat offended, but she didn't apologize and Zack ran to catch up with her a moment later. Aerith felt a little bad, but laughing off danger was one thing she refused to do.

They walked in silence for a while.

"It's kinda stuffy down here," Zack said at last.

"Really?" Aerith responded, taken aback. "It's always like this, though."

As they neared the central slums, Aerith felt her heart start to sink. She didn't want to say goodbye to Zack so soon. The planet's voice wouldn't be coherent here, but she wanted to ask it again if he would return and see if the answer had changed.

"I know what it is," he said suddenly, making her jump. "You can't see the sky."

Her heart gave an unpleasant lurch at the thought of it as she stopped walking. She had never liked the endless blueness hanging over her. The slums were far from perfect, but the plate was one of the things she actually liked about living in Sector 5. It protected her from the open blueness that she'd always feared would suck her in.

Aerith lowered her gaze so she wouldn't have to meet Zack's eyes.

"Who wants to see the sky?" she said, feeling oddly hurt. "I don't, that's for sure."

"Wouldn't you normally miss seeing the sky if you lived under a plate all year round?" As she stared resolutely down at the monochrome cement of the road at their feet, she thought Zack sounded surprised. Then again, his tone was significantly harder to interpret than his facial expressions.

"I guess I'm not normal," she said, surprising herself with the bitterness in her voice. As much anxiety as it gave her pretending her connection with the planet didn't exist, she'd never resented it before. But now, admitting to someone she liked that she wasn't normal stung more than she would have expected it to. She had been starting to hope that Zack was somehow like her, that he was different from everyone else in his own way, and that she wouldn't have to feel so alone anymore.

She watched Zack's shadow move as he took a few steps toward her, but stopped several feet away, as if hesitant to get too close. "You want to talk about it?"

It was the surprisingly gentle tone of his voice that made her decide to tell him the truth, even as part of her wanted to lock away her secrets somewhere he would never find them. "The sky frightens me," she confessed. "I feel like it's sucking me in..."

She looked at him as she spoke, searching for a hint of understanding, but while his expression was thoughtful, there wasn't the flash of recognition across his face she'd been hoping for. Aerith knew from experience that trying to explain the sensation to someone who didn't have any idea where she was coming from was hopeless. Elmyra, while sympathetic, hadn't really understood her fear either.

Aerith sighed and looked away again. "Weird, huh?"

"Normal is overrated," he responded decisively, taking her by surprise.

"Think... so?" she asked hopefully.

"I have an idea!" he exclaimed, and his enthusiasm made her smile as she looked up at his face again. "One day, I'll take you to see a beautiful sky, the real sky."

She couldn't help the way her face fell at the thought, but Zack went on earnestly. "It's not frightening at all. I know you're gonna love it."

She thought about it. She was many things, but brave wasn't really one of them. She wouldn't consider herself a coward, but it was easier to block out the sky and run away from monsters than to stand up to either of those things. With all the other things she worried about, especially keeping her Ancient heritage a secret, she'd never really found any motivation to actively confront her fears. Still, if Zack was with her...

Taking a deep breath, she gave a nod of acceptance.

"Great!" Zack exclaimed, and rewarded her with a dazzling grin which made her heart flutter and her cheeks go pink. She really was hopeless.

"We're here," she said, pointing to the stairs which led to the top of the plate so that she wouldn't have to look at him. "This is the central slums. But..." she trailed off, turning back to him hopefully. "Do you have to go so soon?"

He looked as reluctant as she felt, but he nodded. "I'm sorry, but duty calls."

Aerith couldn't help feeling curious. She trusted the planet enough to feel certain that Zack was trustworthy, but he seemed so mysterious. What duty was he talking about? Where had he learned how to fight monsters? How had he ended up falling into her church, and where was he going now?

She wanted to get to know him better, but now wasn't the time.

"Well, I guess I should get going, then." Under the unchanging electrical lighting of Midgar, it was always difficult to tell what time it was, but it was probably pretty late, and Aerith had to retrieve her plant from the church before going home. She doubted anyone would even go into the church in her absence—she never encountered anyone else there—but she didn't feel comfortable leaving it overnight.

She turned and started to walk off, but then paused and looked back. She had to ask. "Will I... see you again?"

"Of course!" he said, and the genuine enthusiasm sparkling in his eyes convinced her. Slowly, the strands of anxiety and loneliness that had tangled around her heart at the thought of him leaving began to unravel.

"I hope that your friend's okay, Zack," she told him.

"Huh?" He looked startled and unnerved, as if she had somehow read his mind, and she couldn't help but smile a little.

"You talk in your sleep," she explained.

"Yeah," he said, and now there was a hint of weariness in his expression, but he seemed sure of himself. "It'll be fine. I know that now."

They looked at each other with unspoken thoughts in their eyes. Neither of them ended up saying anything, and after a long moment, they turned away to leave—Aerith back to her church, and Zack back to his world above the plate. No more words were exchanged, not even goodbyes, but even as they hurried off, they couldn't help glancing back. Their eyes met as they looked back at the same time, and they both smiled.

They would see each other again, someday soon. As Aerith reached the church just after nightfall, the contented murmuring of the flowers assured her of that. She finished scooping soil into the flowerpot as quickly as she could, but she didn't hurry home immediately like she normally would have.

Instead, she steeled herself and looked up at the hole Zack had left in the church's roof. The sky was completely dark now, dotted with stars, and for some reason it didn't frighten her as much as the blueness always did. Maybe the stars, suspended against the velvet backdrop, assured her that even if she fell into the night sky, she wouldn't keep falling forever. They twinkled like faraway candles, their whispers more ethereal than those of the flowers, but one with the lifestream nevertheless.

Aerith counted. There were exactly twenty-three stars visible through the hole in the roof. As the night breeze blowing in through it stirred her hair, the thought crossed her mind, and she realized that she had never made a wish on a star before.

Now was as good a time to start as any.

Closing her eyes, she made a wish on each of the stars until she reached the last one. Twenty-two wishes... and she couldn't think of anything else to wish for.

But that was okay. She could add her last wish when she thought of one.

She thought of Zack, of how he'd proclaimed that _normal is overrated,_ and was fairly sure that her first wish was already starting to come true.

 _I wish I didn't feel so alone anymore._

 _Maybe,_ she thought, as she set off for home along the narrow streets of Sector 5 hoping that her mother wouldn't be too worried about her. _Maybe one day he'll make the rest of them come true, too._


	2. To Go On a Date

**AN: I'm sorry you all had to wait so long for this chapter! In addition to busy real life, I had a bit of trouble with this story since it's still in its early stages and I had to decide what path I wanted to take with it. Hopefully, future chapters will not take as long for me to finish and post!**

 **While I originally intended to focus solely on Zack and Aerith's relationship, I realized that a lot of the outside events are important, especially due to their influence on the characters' thoughts and feelings. I therefore decided to incorporate a little bit of Crisis Core's plot into this story. However, if that's not what you were expecting to see, don't worry; Crisis Core will never overshadow its characters as the main focus of the story, and I will only be including its plotlines when I feel they are relevant to the particular story I'm telling with each chapter.**

 **Also, I just want to say here (I forgot to in the first chapter) that I never actually played Crisis Core myself, so I'm writing this story based solely off of what I could find on the internet, like cutscene movies and articles on the Final Fantasy wiki. If I accidentally overlook gameplay relevant to the story which isn't actually a cutscene, that's most likely why.**

 **Thanks for reading, and enjoy! I hope this chapter is worth the wait!**

* * *

Zack couldn't stop thinking about Aerith.

Even as he dodged attacks from the holographic monsters in SOLDIER's training room and slashed at them with his sword with a fluid grace born of hours of practice, he was conscious of the fact that he was distracted. His fighting was still far from sloppy, but Zack was finding it nigh-impossible to concentrate on anything besides reliving his meeting with the mysterious flower girl a few days before, and that bothered him.

If Angeal were here, he'd call Zack out on it.

But he wasn't. That was bothering Zack, too.

With a grunt of frustration, he slashed his sword in a wide arc, forcing the illusory monsters back and giving himself a moment of reprieve.

The three remaining cat-like creatures prowled warily around him through the grassy field the room had emulated for the battleground. They weren't attacking yet, but clearly waiting for an opening to strike. Their shapes were mostly obscured by tall grass, perceivable to the SOLDIER only in small hints of movement and the faint rustling sound of fronds against fur. He needed to pay full attention to all his heightened senses in order to kill them before they killed him.

Zack couldn't let his guard falter, even for a moment.

He lunged for one of the beasts, impaling it with his sword, and immediately the other two pounced from the sea of grass. Zack whirled around just in time to block their attacks with the flat side of his sword; his ears caught the sound of both monsters' claws striking the metal with a resonating clang.

The sound pierced through his unfocused thoughts, clearing his mind a little, and he did his best to shake off the rest of lingering daze as he pushed the monsters away with the flat of his blade. They disappeared into the meadow again, but Zack pinpointed their location with keen senses and slashed through the grass with his sword to reveal his targets. Before they could slip away again, he struck one in the back of the neck with deadly accuracy, and then whirled to slash the throat of the other.

When he had finished, he was a bit sweaty but otherwise no worse for wear than when he'd started, and he couldn't help but grin despite the distractions burdening him. The bloodless practice fights the training room gave him didn't have the literal life-or-death urgency that a real battle would, but they were still exhilarating.

His grin faded along with the meadow as the training room reverted back into its actual form. He was now surrounded by four grungy cement walls that he'd come to know as typical of Midgar—colorless and boring. In fact, he'd thought everything about Midgar was boring until he'd fallen through the floor of a mako reactor and ended up in a church full of flowers. It had been beautiful, and home to an even more beautiful girl. Aerith was unlike anyone he had ever met before—maybe strange, definitely different, and unquestionably the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

He closed his eyes as he wiped the sweat from his forehead, and shoved away the memory of Aerith's wide green eyes that automatically filled the empty space beneath his eyelids. He didn't have time to wander back to her church like a lost puppy. He had to train. He had to defeat Genesis. He had to find his mentor and bring him home.

But what his brain knew as common sense, his heart refused to listen to.

All he really wanted right now was to see Aerith again, to convince himself that he hadn't imagined the way they'd both been drawn to each other. He didn't know her, but he wanted to, and he thought she wanted to know him too.

But he had more important things to do than figure out the mysterious flower girl. Maybe after he'd found Angeal and stopped Genesis and Hollander, he could afford to spend some time with Aerith, but not until then. He'd have to wait... and hope that she wouldn't lose interest in him by then.

Zack heaved a weary sigh. He was quickly learning that life was infinitely more problematic when starry-eyed infatuation became involved.

"You sound quite conflicted," observed a quiet voice, and Zack opened his eyes to see that Sephiroth had entered the room without him noticing. The silver-haired SOLDIER was leaning against the doorway and watching Zack with sharp green eyes—eyes that were technically the same color as Aerith's. But Sephiroth's were pale and cat-like, whereas Aerith's pupils were rounder and her irises more vivid, a hue Zack would describe as the color of life itself.

Zack bit back frustration. He really was hopeless.

"It's nothing," he said. Sephiroth was friendly enough, but he wasn't Angeal—he wasn't the one Zack would feel comfortable telling anything to. "I'm fine."

Sephiroth rarely blinked, but when he did, the movement was eerily unhurried, like that of a predator who was completely certain that his prey would never be able to escape. Zack wasn't easily intimidated, but under Sephiroth's intense stare, he was glad that the other SOLDIER was his ally, not his enemy.

"You should know," the silver-haired man told him, "that our current situation rests in a precarious balance. The defining events to disrupt it may unfold at any time, without warning. Those things might occur several months from now, but they could just as easily happen tomorrow." He paused, narrowing his eyes as if he saw something in Zack's gaze which displeased him. "You cannot afford to be distracted when they do."

Zack was silent, watching Sephiroth warily. His cat-like gaze was as unreadable as ever, and Zack found himself wondering if Sephiroth knew something that he didn't. It certainly seemed possible, but the older SOLDIER could just as easily be speaking from previous experience or intuition.

"Does that," Sephiroth asked at last, "change your conviction in your response?"

"Maybe." Zack tried his best to keep his expression neutral, but he wasn't sure he succeeded. "I need to think about it."

"Take your time," the silver-haired SOLDIER told him, and the dangerous edge to his voice softened into his usual indifferent tone. "But if you do come to the conclusion that there's something you need to do, I advise you do it rather than hesitate. Your own distraction can be a more dangerous enemy than monsters."

Zack supposed that made his decision for him. It definitely gave him the excuse he needed to go running back to Aerith like he wanted to, but he wasn't sure whether to feel grateful to Sephiroth or anxious about the warning the other SOLDIER had given him. He settled for a polite nod of farewell as he walked past Sephiroth and the older man's unblinking green eyes followed him through the door.

When Zack reached the church, his heart leapt at the sight of Aerith sitting on the edge of the floor near the flowerbed, sunlight from the hole in the roof pouring in over it. But she sat just far enough away that she was in the shade, deliberately, as if staying out of reach of the sky which frightened her. She had her back to the door, so it was hard to tell what she was doing, but she didn't appear to be watering the plants or transplanting one, just watching over them, deep in thought.

She looked so pensive that he hesitated to disturb her, but Aerith seemed alerted by something, perhaps his footsteps against the smooth stone floor. She didn't look up from the flowers, but something about her mannerism changed—her shoulders became a little tenser, her previously restless hands more still.

"Zack?" she asked quietly, uncertainly. She sounded as if she were talking more to herself than to him, like she had the first day they'd met, speaking so quietly that even his mako-enhanced senses strained to make out what she was saying.

That didn't stop him from grinning. "That's me!"

She jumped, and the look she gave him over her shoulder was wide-eyed, but her surprise turned to delight when she took in his presence. "You came back!"

"Of course I did," he replied, a warmly pleased feeling bubbling up in his chest at the way her whole face lit up when she saw him. "I told you I would, didn't I?"

"How did you hear what I was saying?" she asked, getting to her feet and meeting him halfway as he walked toward her down the church's aisle. She seemed genuinely curious, but there was also a spark of wariness in her vivid green eyes that Zack didn't understand. "I thought I was speaking quietly."

"You were," he said. "I just have really good hearing."

"Inhumanly good?" she asked, giving him a half-skeptical, half-curious look, as if she weren't sure whether or not to believe him.

"I'm inhumanly good at a lot of things," he said modestly.

She made a surprised sound—a laugh—and shoved him.

He obligingly fell back a few steps, laughing. "What was that for?"

"I can't tell whether you're being serious or not," she told him, looking as if she weren't sure whether to be amused or exasperated. But to Zack's relief, the guarded look in her eyes had faded.

He winked mysteriously, wanting to keep her wondering about him, intrigued by him the way he was intrigued by her. "Decide for yourself. In any case, I was _definitely_ serious about that date, so I think we should go on one now."

"Right now?" she asked, a little doubtfully.

"Absolutely," he said, grinning. The restless feeling which had consumed him had gone as soon as he entered the church, and he felt like this was where he was meant to be. With Aerith. He felt lighter than he had in days.

Part of him expected her to say no, but to his surprise, she just laughed again, this time at his enthusiastic expression. "All right."

With one last glance back at the flowerbed, as if she didn't like leaving it, Aerith followed him as he led the way out of the church. Zack wanted to make some kind of conversation, but he wasn't sure what to say. Aerith seemed slightly uncomfortable, looking at the ground instead of at him, though he wasn't sure if it was leaving the safety of the church or being alone with him that bothered her.

He hoped it was the former.

"Do you talk to yourself a lot?" he asked. She looked up, her expression alarmed, and he hurriedly added, "Not that that's a bad thing. I just noticed that you were doing it the first time we met and again today. I figured you must be lonely."

Aerith hesitated before responding, looking cautious.

"It is a bit quiet," she said slowly—carefully, Zack noticed. "But... I'm not really talking to myself. I know this might sound silly, but... I talk to the flowers. They... can't answer, of course, but... it's like they're listening."

Zack tilted his head to one side, thinking about it as they walked along the empty city streets. Though the church was in pretty good condition apart from the hole in the roof (and the broken floorboards, which he didn't count since the beautiful flowers were better than flooring anyway), Aerith seemed to be the only person who ever went there. The church and the roads in its vicinity were relatively abandoned, and Zack wondered if the conditions in the slums beneath the plate were so grim and hopeless that the people living there found faith impossible.

"I guess that makes sense," he said at last, trying not to think too much about the poor living conditions. He didn't like worrying about things he was powerless to change. "They're not the same as us, but they are still living things in their own way."

"So you do understand," she said, looking relieved.

"What made you think I wouldn't?"

"The fact that you almost trampled them the other day?" she suggested, and he couldn't tell whether her tone was amused or exasperated. The harsh greenish lighting which made everyone else look unnaturally pale and sickly only enhanced the vivid color of her eyes, and trying not to stare into them seemed to be a lost cause.

"Ah, you've got me there," he admitted. "But I've been educated since then on the importance of respecting flowers."

"Now you're just teasing me," she said.

"But you don't mind," he pointed out, and she didn't argue with that.

Zack hadn't consciously had a destination in mind, but he realized that his feet were following the path he and Aerith had taken to the central slums the other day, and he let them continue on. He remembered Aerith telling him that there were lots of people there, and the familiar bustle and chatter might ease her nerves now.

"Where are we going?" she asked him.

"Anywhere," he responded. "It doesn't matter to me, as long as I'm with you."

She looked unsure of whether to graciously accept the implied compliment or blush and look away, so her expression ended up somewhere between the two as she gave him a fleeting smile and then her gaze darted immediately back to the ground. Her shyness was really quite endearing, and Zack couldn't help but chuckle.

"Hmm..." he said, as they reached the central slums. Last time he'd been there, he hadn't really had the time or motivation to look around, when Aerith was clearly the most compelling part of it. Now he scanned the bustling marketplace with curious blue eyes. "Looks like an interesting place."

Aerith turned to face him. "Maybe we should take a look around—" she started to say, but stopped as a boy about half Zack's height darted across his path, almost tripped him, and then yelled, "Whoaa! Watch out!"

"Hm?" Zack said, and then realized that the boy was giving him a rather accusing look. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh, sorry..."

"Be more careful!" the kid scolded him, and Zack had to force down an indignant retort. _If you hadn't been running right in front of me,_ he shot back silently as the boy ran off, _I wouldn't have almost tripped over you._

He turned to Aerith once the offending boy had gone, only to find her gazing after the kid with a troubled expression.

"Hey Zack?" she asked, turning to face him with an oddly intense look in her eyes. "You didn't just... lose something, did you? Like any of your belongings?"

"Did I lose something?" he echoed, puzzled. "I don't think so..." He felt around in his pockets, not expecting to find anything out of place, and gave a yelp of surprise as he realized she was right. "My wallet!"

"It's gone?" Aerith asked anxiously.

"Was it that kid?" Zack asked angrily. "I'm gonna hunt him down!"

 _First the little brat has the audacity to yell at me after_ he _almost tripped_ me, he thought incredulously, _and now he thinks he can steal my stuff? No way am I going to let him get away with that!_

"Zack, wait," Aerith said pleadingly. "I'm sorry, but I know that boy. There has to be some reason. He would usually never do something like this."

"Whatever the reason," he snapped, a bit stung that she sounded more worried about the little thief than she was about what he would do without any money or his ID, "stealing is wrong. I'm gonna find him, and..."

"Let's ask him why he did it," she interrupted. "I'll bring him here."

"Hey Aerith!" he called, but she had already run off, disappearing into the crowd of people milling around the marketplace. _She's gone. I'll have to look for him too._

 _Where did he go?_ Having never been there before, it was tricky to navigate the marketplace, with its small twisting streets and array of nearly identical-looking stalls. Dodging around people with as much agility as he could muster, Zack eventually spotted the kid by one of the vendors. _There he is!_

"Hey you!" he called to the vendor. "Get him for me!"

He ran over as quick as he could, but the boy had disappeared by the time Zack reached the clerk. "Ha ha... I tried to catch him," the older man said, breathing heavily, "but... he stole my prized materia before I was able to do anything. Once he used that, there was no way I could catch him."

Looking into the older man's eyes, Zack saw that he was lying. His impression of being out of breath had been pretty convincing, but he didn't have the desperate look of someone who had just been robbed.

"You didn't even try to catch him, did you?" he asked, frustrated. The people in Midgar had no sense of honor. If you didn't pay them, you couldn't expect their help.

"No, you got me all wrong, buddy!" the man protested, but Zack wasn't interested in talking to him for even a moment longer.

"It's all right," he told the vendor. "It'll try looking elsewhere."

 _If there was only someone trustworthy enough to ask for help..._ he thought as he made his way back into the crowd, wondering if Aerith was still looking for the boy. _Can she really catch him by herself?_ True, she probably knew the layout of the marketplace much better than Zack did, and she claimed to know the little thief, but it would be hard to catch him if he didn't want to talk with her.

Eventually, after milling aimlessly around for a while, Zack spotted Aerith's white dress and rushed to catch up to her, hoping she'd had better luck than he did.

"Aerith! There you are!" he called, and beckoned to her when she made eye contact with him over her shoulder. Zack waded through the crowd until he reached an opening, and Aerith met him by a large building in the center of the marketplace. To his disappointment, she didn't have the boy with her.

"Zack..." she said, trailing off as she searched his gaze with worried green eyes.

"Looks like you've had no luck either," he sighed, and she looked away instead of responding, lowering her gaze to the pavement again.

He'd glimpsed this sadness before, the first time they'd met. She had smiled and laughed along with him, but he could see that somewhere under the surface, Aerith was deeply unhappy. He wasn't sure if her lingering dissatisfaction was pure loneliness or if it was caused in part by the stifling air underneath the plate, but Zack wanted to make her happier somehow. She deserved better than Midgar.

"You don't have to be so glum!" he said lightly, trying to cheer her up. "It was my wallet that was stolen, after all."

"I'm sorry," she said. "But there has to be a good reason."

"Well, if he's gonna use the money," Zack reasoned, tapping his chin thoughtfully, "he would still be in the city, right?"

"Yes," she responded, still frowning. "I'm sure he is."

"Then help me find him, Aerith," he prompted, knowing that if she didn't, he had basically no chance of ever seeing his wallet again. He needed her help, but she didn't seem to realize it, or else didn't seem to be taking the theft as seriously as he was. "We won't get anywhere unless we catch him, right?"

"Yeah... but if you do find him, you have to hear his story out." She lowered her gaze, but her voice was startlingly firm. Studying her guarded expression, he realized that she didn't fully trust him. She seemed to like him, but she would still put the people she knew before him, who she didn't really know at all, even if that meant withholding knowledge that would help him get back an object which was rightfully his.

"All right, all right..." he said, trying not to feel stung. "I'll ask him why he did it."

"Okay," she said decisively, "then I'll help you."

With his sharp hearing, Zack picked up an undercurrent of relief in her voice. Apparently, she at least _wanted_ to trust him, even if she didn't yet, and that made the clenched feeling in his chest ease up a bit.

 _Okay,_ he thought, turning back to the task of tracking down the boy who'd stolen his wallet. They had a better chance if they worked together to corner him somewhere. _I guess Aerith can stay around here, and I'll make another round of the streets._

Eventually, after wandering and becoming familiar with the different streets, he spotted the boy near a store with a sign which read, _Shopping Paradise._ He was pretty sure the store was close to where Aerith was waiting.

 _There,_ he thought with grim satisfaction. _I've got you now!_

"Aerith!" he called, wondering if she would really help him. She had seemed to genuinely want to, but the truth was he didn't know her very well. He hoped he could trust her. "He's running towards you!"

To his relief, he turned the corner just in time to see the boy skid to a halt in front of Aerith, who was blocking his way with her hands on her hips and a stern look on her face. "Hey, you, no more running."

"We got him!" Zack cheered, relieved, but his lightheartedness was soon replaced by annoyance as he took in the boy's stubbornly unrepentant expression.

"You sneaky little runt!" he scolded. "Stealing from people is a—"

"Zack..." Aerith interrupted. When he met her gaze, she shook her head slightly, as if to say, _Don't be so harsh on him._

"...a very, very bad thing," Zack finished, attempting to make his voice somewhat gentler for Aerith's approval. "So what made you do it?"

"It's none of your business," the kid retorted, turning away.

"When you stole my wallet, you made it my business!" Zack snapped.

"You promised me a long time ago that you would never steal again," Aerith intervened, more sympathetically. "Are you in some kind of trouble?"

The boy remained silent, and Zack saw Aerith look away. Her gaze had fallen on the cement walkway, but she seemed to be looking more at something in her mind than at her surroundings. Her troubled expression indicated that she was imagining all sorts of horrible things that could have happened to the boy.

"If you're in trouble, just say so," he said, trying to copy Aerith's gentler approach. If Aerith was so concerned about this boy, they were probably pretty close, and he might be convinced to say something for her sake. "Now you've got Aerith all worried."

The boy glanced at Aerith, and his expression finally softened into something like shame. "My own wallet got eaten by a monster," he admitted reluctantly. "But I have to buy medicine and get home quickly."

"Medicine?" Zack echoed, torn between worry and relief at finally having a clear explanation. It seemed Aerith was right in thinking there must be a good reason for the theft. Now that he knew that, what could he do about it?

While being SOLDIER was a glamorous job, it didn't pay as well as one would expect (unless you were First Class), but he could probably scrape up enough money to buy the medicine the kid needed.

However, that would only solve the immediate problem. If someone in the boy's family was sick, it would probably be a while before he or she recovered, and going without money for a long time was never a good situation to be in.

"I'll get your wallet back from the monster," he decided.

"R-really?" the boy asked hopefully, and for the first time, Zack felt sympathy for him. It had to be hard dealing with the responsibility of buying medicine and traversing the dangerous city streets at such a young age, especially without his wallet.

"Leave it to me!" he said reassuringly.

"But it's dangerous," Aerith protested, looking worried.

"No worries!" he told her confidently. "Monsters in this area are no match for me!" They suffered from the poor conditions just as much as people did, and were more like pests than actual threats. Still, Aerith didn't look convinced, so he added, "Besides, if I don't do this, he's gonna have to steal again, right?"

"Then I'll help, too," she said, with a surprisingly steely look in her eyes.

"No, it's okay, Aerith—really." To her, any monsters probably seemed immensely frightening, but he realized that she didn't know that he was a SOLDIER and that he had been trained to fight them. The pests in Midgar were nothing compared to the beasts he had practiced against in the training room just that morning. "I'll take care of it. You can stay here and keep that kid out of trouble."

"The monster should still be on the street that goes to the park," the boy told him, much more agreeable now that Zack had promised to help. "Here's your wallet back... Get whatever you need before you go." His dark gaze was serious, and Zack realized that the monsters must be more threatening to the people of Midgar than he'd originally thought. Both Aerith and the boy seemed disproportionately worried about him.

 _I might not be able to do anything about the poor living conditions,_ he thought, _but maybe I can deal with their monster problem... after I deal with this Genesis crisis. Like Sephiroth said, I can't afford to be distracted right now._

He'd passed signs pointing to the park in his search for the boy, and doubled back to them now. It was a relief to think of nothing besides the battle ahead of him, without worrying about how Aerith felt toward him. Now that he'd seen her again, he knew for certain that he hadn't imagined their mutual attraction to each other.

He'd expected the park to look like the ones in other towns—grassy and bright and hopeful—but it was as colorless and lifeless as the rest of Midgar, lit only by the pale green lights under the plate and completely void of even a sprig or two of grass. Zack couldn't imagine growing up here, never seeing the sun... There were slides and monkey bars to play on, a bit battered, but there weren't any children playing on them now. Only a few monsters inhabited the playground, prowling lazily around.

 _Those must be the creatures that ate the kid's wallet._

He defeated the monsters quickly, and as they dissolved into dust, Zack spotted a fluid-covered but otherwise undamaged object lying on the ground. _Aha! I've found the kid's wallet,_ he thought, relieved. _The inside's still intact... right?_

He picked it up and opened it, just to make sure, and was startled to realize that it was full of money, a lot more than was in his own wallet. _This must be the kid's entire life savings,_ he thought, glad he had decided to retrieve it for the boy. It would have been a waste to let a common monster digest all that cash just because the citizens of Midgar were too intimidated to fight it.

"You really got it back!" the boy exclaimed, relieved, when Zack returned with the wallet and offered it to him. He took it eagerly, only to wrinkle his nose in disgust as he took in the digestive fluids smeared all over it. "Eww, it's all slimy!"

"Quit complaining!" Zack responded, only half-joking. Aerith's friend or not, the kid was too bold for his own good. "You should be glad just to have it back!"

Aerith rested her hand on his arm. "Zack, were you hurt?"

"Not a scratch!" he assured her. "No problem whatsoever!"

"Now, to deal with this brat..." he said, turning to the kid. The boy could use some scolding, but getting the medicine he needed was more important right now. Zack could lecture him another time. "'Get ready for the longest lecture of your life!'... is what I'd like to say, but you can go. You're in a hurry, right?"

"Thanks mister," the boy said, and most of Zack's annoyance ebbed.

"Next time you're in trouble, don't steal!" he said sternly. "Come talk to me first."

"Hmm... I appreciate the offer, but I think I'll pass," the boy responded cheekily. "I thought you looked pretty rich, but your wallet told me another story."

Zack was taken off guard. "Don't mock me, Junior! I'm gonna be a wealthy man soon. Aerith and I are gonna sell flowers! We call it Operation Midgar Full of Flowers, Wallet Full of Money!"

Aerith laughed, as if surprised he'd remembered. "That's right!" she told the boy. "Midgar full of flowers, wallet full of money!"

"Aerith, are you seriously doing this?" the kid asked her.

"Yes," she told him, nodding. "I'm gonna try, anyway. So, no stealing! Come talk to me if you're ever in trouble, okay?"

"All right," the boy agreed. "I'll come talk to you. Well, I really do have to hurry. Thanks, Aerith, mister." He started to run off, and then paused to turn back with a piece of advice. "You should be more careful on the street," he called to Zack, "unless you want your wallet taken again!"

"Obnoxious little brat!" Zack called back. "Get lost already!"

"Thanks for helping that boy, Zack," Aerith said softly.

"Oh, it was nothing," Zack said, a little surprised. Had she really expected him to do nothing to help even after hearing that the boy's wallet had been eaten by a monster? Perhaps in the slums, people were too afraid of being taken advantage of to risk helping each other. But Zack knew he would feel guilty if he didn't help as much as he could.

"Hey, Zack?" Aerith asked. "Were you really serious about selling the flowers?"

"Of course!" he responded. "How can I turn back now, after all I said?" It would be a good way to earn money, and even better, a good way to get to know Aerith. He had to admit, he felt as if he knew her better already. He knew that she was kind and that if she agreed to do something, he could trust her to do it.

And thinking about the park, barren of color, made him want to do it even more. Even a few flowers would make everything so much brighter, so much more hopeful. He could see now why despite her naturally cheery personality, Aerith was so sad, repressed by the gloomy atmosphere permeating throughout the slums.

He thought about it. "I have an idea! Let's make a wagon."

"A wagon?" she echoed, but she looked more intrigued than doubtful.

"Yeah!" he said wholeheartedly. "A flower wagon! If we have a wagon to put the flowers in, we can cart them all around Midgar selling them!" He gestured as he talked, hoping his enthusiasm would convince her.

"Oh yeah, that's true," Aerith said, and he saw a spark of excitement light up her pretty green eyes. She was always beautiful, but seemed even more so when she wasn't weighed down by lingering sadness. "That is a good idea!"

"We can figure out how to make one later," Zack said. "First, we should actually go on our date... assuming I don't get robbed again."

Aerith giggled. "The boy was right. You should be more careful!"

"I will," he said, taking her hand. "I'll stay close to you. The people around here seem to like you a lot, so they wouldn't steal from your friend, right?" He was partially joking around, but he wanted an excuse to stand closer to her. She didn't seem to mind, letting him hold her hand as they walked through the marketplace and not leaning away from him when his arm brushed against hers.

They didn't go anywhere in particular, just stopping at the various stalls. The two mostly just looked around, but Zack did stop to blend some perfume for Aerith, who accepted the gift with a curious look on her face. "It smells really good," she told him, after giving it an experimental sniff. "I didn't know you could make perfume!"

 _Hey,_ he thought. _She's pretty into it!_

"It's one of my inhumanly good talents," he teased. "Keep hanging out with me, and maybe you'll figure out what the rest of them are."

"I already know another one," she said, eyes twinkling with mischief.

"Oh, really?" Zack raised one eyebrow, feeling curious. "What's that?"

"Boasting," she teased. "You're inhumanly good at boasting!"

Taken by surprise, Zack laughed. "Touché."

As they continued walking, Zack couldn't help but smile. He was glad that Aerith was starting to get comfortable being with him. He hadn't expected to find that beneath her shy exterior, she was willing to joke around as playfully as he did. Now he was more certain than ever that Aerith was the most captivating person he'd ever met.

Zack tensed slightly as they passed by the shop with the clerk who had lied to him about the boy stealing his materia. He hoped that he and Aerith could slip past the stall without being noticed, but the vendor spotted them immediately.

"Oh, hi, Aerith," he said, in a much friendlier tone than the guarded one he had used with Zack. Zack felt a small sting of bitterness at the unfairness of this, but was soon distracted as the man asked, "Is that your boyfriend?"

Zack glanced at Aerith, wondering how she would answer.

"Hmm..." she said, looking thoughtful. "I'm not sure yet."

The vendor looked at Zack and seemed to recognize him. "Hey, aren't you... You are! The guy who was chasing that kid around!" Zack winced, but instead of getting angry, the man added, "I heard about you from the neighborhood folks. I thought you were just a dumb outsider, but it turns out you're a pretty good guy! I'm sorry we misjudged you. This is just a small token of our appreciation."

The clerk handed him a few materia, and Zack accepted them gratefully, realizing that some of the shopkeepers must have noticed him retrieve the stolen wallet—the whole event hadn't been exactly quiet—and relayed the information to the rest of the vendors. Apparently, there was more of a community here than he'd realized. Looking into the man's eyes, Zack could see that he was genuinely sorry about their earlier misunderstanding, and his bitterness faded. "Don't worry about it!"

The older man's furrowed brow relaxed in relief, and the two shook hands, their conflict forgotten.

"I have to say, though, Aerith..." the vendor said, turning to her as she watched the exchange with a pleased look on her face. "You're not gonna find a decent, honest, kindhearted guy like this very often. This one has my stamp of approval. I hope you're very happy together!"

"No," she protested, blushing. "He's not my boyfriend. I just met him." Zack felt his heart sink, but she glanced at him before adding, half-shyly and half-teasingly, "But maaaybe... there's something there. Maybe."

Zack felt his heartbeat quicken hopefully, and beamed at her. She smiled back.

They started to bid the clerk goodbye, but Aerith said, "Oh, wait. Zack, would you mind if I take a look inside this store?"

"So, what?" Zack joked. "The whole reason you wanted to go out was to shop?"

To his surprise, she lowered her gaze. "Then I won't."

"I'm just kidding!" Zack hastened to assure her. "Go look as long as you like."

"Thanks," she said. "Just for a little bit, I promise."

As she turned to look at the vendor's wares, Zack tried not to feel stupid about accidentally ruining the mood. Bantering with Aerith felt so normal that he'd forgotten that she might not know when he was joking and when he wasn't. He watched a bit wistfully as she studied the objects displayed for sale, running her fingers over a group of velvety ribbons with a kind of almost reverent intensity. Zack wondered if it was really the bows which interested her, or if there was something else on her mind. He never knew what she was thinking when she got that distant look in her eyes.

"You really like this store, huh?" he commented lightly, mostly for the sake of getting her attention back from whatever had distracted her.

"Yeah," she said softly. "It's fun just looking around."

"Hey, Aerith," he said.

"Mm-hmm?" She turned around to face him.

"To show my gratitude for that 'hell-loo' that woke me up," he said, a bit playfully but meaning it all the same, "I'll buy you something."

"Oh you don't have to," she responded, laughing a little, though he couldn't tell if she was amused or embarrassed. "You're repaying me with one date, right?"

"You said 'Don't be silly'," he reminded her.

"Well..." she said, still looking unconvinced.

"Then consider it a one-day anniversary gift of our friendship," he suggested.

"Are you sure?" She still looked hesitant.

"Positive," he assured her.

"Okay..." She turned around to look carefully at the assortment of ribbons, before pointing to a coral-colored one. "This one."

"All right, I'll go buy it," Zack said, "I'll be right back." He picked the bow up and held it as delicately as he would one of Aerith's precious flowers as he went to purchase it from the clerk. He had never been a very careful person—in fact, he tended to act first and think later—but Aerith's sensitivity seemed to be bringing out a gentler side to him. She seemed constantly aware of the fragility of things around her, and Zack didn't want to accidentally damage something that she saw value in.

When he returned, Aerith was looking absentmindedly around with her back to him. Zack touched her shoulder lightly to get her attention. She jumped, but relaxed as she glanced over her shoulder and saw that it was only him.

He carefully tied the ribbon around her ponytail. "How's that?"

"Did you put it on right?" she asked worriedly. "Will it stay on?"

"It should be fine," Zack told her, studying his handiwork. "Yeah, it looks great!"

Aerith tentatively reached up to touch it, feeling the soft fabric brush against her fingertips, and then smiled with genuine delight as she turned to face him. "Thank you, Zack! I'll always wear it from now on!"

As they left the store, waving goodbye to the clerk, Aerith gently nudged Zack's arm with her own. "Hey, do you still have some time?"

"I guess so," Zack said. He should probably be heading back to Shinra now, but he wouldn't turn down spending more time with Aerith. "Why?"

"Why don't we go to the park?" she suggested.

"Whoa, that kinda sounds like a date!" he remarked. The park hadn't seemed like much of a place to hang out at when he'd gone there, but maybe it would see more lively without monsters infesting it.

"Uh-huh!" Aerith said, nodding. Her eyes twinkled with anticipation.

"All right," Zack agreed, grinning. "Let's go right now!"

They walked to the park together in companionable silence. Shopkeepers nodded to Aerith in greeting as they walked through the plaza, and she waved back. Everyone seemed to know her, and everyone seemed to like her. Though he'd never met someone who seemed to have such widespread popularity, he had to admit it was understandable. Aerith seemed impossible to dislike.

Eventually, the hubbub of the marketplace faded and they found themselves at the park. There were already a few children running around again, and though it still wasn't picturesque, their presence made the place look a little better. Apparently, word had already spread that the park was now free from monsters. Zack felt a little spark of pride, happy that he'd been able to make a small difference.

"So, ever meet any SOLDIER members?" Aerith asked lightly. Zack gave her a sideways look, wondering if she had figured out that he worked for Shinra, but she was looking at the ground ahead of her rather than at him.

"Maybe," he replied. He wasn't sure why, but something made him hold back from telling her that he himself was in SOLDIER. Maybe he'd just rather her look at him the way she did now, as a friend, without getting his ranking involved. Too many people thought differently of him once they knew.

"Do you think that they're happy?"

The question took him off guard. Why wouldn't members of SOLDIER be happy? They had admiration, fame, glory—everything Zack had always dreamed of as a child. "What do you mean?" he asked slowly.

"Heroes to children, protectors of the peace," she said thoughtfully. "But... they're not normal. They get some kind of special surgery, don't they?"

"So they say," Zack remarked lightly.

"Normal is best," Aerith responded. Zack wondered if it was a hint of wistfulness he heard in her tone, behind the decisive words. "I think so, at least. Those SOLDIER people are kind of... weird."

"They're... weird, huh?" Zack echoed, trying not to feel hurt.

Aerith turned to him, worry in her eyes.

"And they're scary," she admitted. "They fight, and they love it."

Zack was silent for a long moment, unable to come up with a reply past the tight knot in his chest. It was true. He did love to fight. How could he make her understand the thrill that made him feel truly alive in a way that nothing else did? How could he convince her that it wasn't the blood and the violence he loved, but the danger?

"Actually," he said at last, "I'm with SOLDIER."

She took a sharp intake of breath, looking horrified at the thought of having upset him. "I'm sorry..." They stood there for a long moment, a few feet apart, Zack with his arms crossed defensively over his chest, Aerith with her face angled away from him. She seemed to be thinking, as much at a loss for what to say as he was. He knew she hadn't meant to hurt his feelings, but her words still stung.

Silently, he let his defensive posture fall and rubbed the back of his neck.

"So pretty..." she said at last.

Zack forced a playful smile. "The face?"

Aerith laughed a little at that. "The eyes!"

"You like them?" he said, trying to joke away the lingering awkwardness between them. He took a few steps closer, relieved when she didn't move away from him. "Then take a closer look. Eyes infused with mako energy. A SOLDIER trademark."

Aerith took a step toward him, and he leaned in closer so that she could see his eyes more clearly. Her gaze as it searched his was curious, unafraid, and slowly his hurt began to fade, replaced by a spark of mischievous energy. Zack quirked one eyebrow at Aerith, making her laugh and push him away. "Oh, you!"

When he laughed with her, his amusement was genuine, not bogged down by any awkwardness between them. "Color of the sky, right?" he teased.

"Mm-hmm," she agreed. "But not scary at all!"

The rest of the lingering tightness in his chest loosened its grip as Zack realized that the statement was an apology for what she'd said before. She wanted him to know that even after learning he was in SOLDIER, she didn't find him frightening.

"I'll admit it, things haven't been normal at all lately," he said, thinking of Angeal, Genesis, and Hollander. He hadn't forgotten Sephiroth's warning, either. Whatever happened next could happen any day now.

But he didn't want to think about that now. "What about you, Aerith?" he asked, genuinely wanting to know. "How's your life going?"

She was quiet for a moment, thoughtful, and then laughed. "Everything was pretty uneventful for a while." She looked up at the plate above their heads, smiling to herself a little. "Until a few days ago. I was thinking it would be a normal day, but then suddenly... some guy fell out of the sky."

"That's not all that bad," Zack joked lightly.

"Mm-hmm," Aerith agreed, nodding. She looked as if she were starting to say something else, but stopped as Zack's cell phone began to ring.

"Zack," a voice said urgently, as soon as he answered the phone. "Return to the Shinra building now. Genesis has attacked us."

Zack became immediately serious. "I'm on my way."

Aerith was watching him with a spark of worry in her eyes. Her gaze searched his for an explanation, but he didn't have time to give her one.

"I'm sorry," he told her. "I have to go."

"You'll be careful... right?" She was perceptive.

"Always am," he promised. He held her gaze for a moment longer, backing away, before he turned and headed for the central slums so he could return to the surface.

As he ascended back into the sunlight, he pushed away any last traces of worry. He'd make it through whatever was coming, and when he returned, Aerith would still be here, waiting for him.

Zack traveled as quickly as he could. _The Shinra building_ , he thought, pausing at the sight of the place he called home. How could Genesis turn on the place where he'd trained and made a name for himself, the place where he'd met his two best friends? _Damn you, Genesis! What's the matter with you?_

 _I'll stop you once and for all,_ he vowed silently, and continued running.

He was about halfway there when Angeal descended from the sky to land in front of him, floating gently on angelic wings. Zack slowed to a halt, uncertain as to how to feel. Part of him felt a flood of relief; he'd missed Angeal, and was glad to see him again. And yet, part of him felt a surge of stubborn anger. His mentor had been gone for so long without any explanation. He'd only reappeared once, a few days ago, when he'd turned on Zack and sent him flying all the way to Aerith's church.

"I need your help," Angeal said simply, clearly taking note of the hurt, angry look etched into his student's face. As if needing Zack now would somehow make up for his past betrayal and his continuous absence.

"Do you?" Zack asked, turning his face away as he walked slowly past Angeal. He kept a few feet between them, standoffishly, and his voice came out sounding cold even to his own ears. Suddenly, the part of him that welcomed his mentor was gone, and he was completely furious. "Honestly, what are you thinking, Angeal?"

To his surprise, his mentor didn't try to defend himself. He only remained silent for a moment before admitting, "I'm not... really sure myself."

Zack had been purposely avoiding looking at Angeal, but he couldn't help turning his chin now, glancing over his shoulder in surprise. The eye contact they made was brief, but Angeal must have seen something other than hostility in Zack's gaze, because he tentatively walked up to his student. "At times, I feel as if my mind is mired in fog. But Zack, no matter what happens, I have to protect my honor."

He paused behind Zack, who was standing with his back to him and his arms crossed defensively across his chest. "As long as I hold the Buster Sword."

He slashed the weapon out emphatically behind him. "Zack, join my battle," he urged. "Our enemy is all that creates suffering."

The argument certainly sounded compelling, but Zack wasn't sure it would be so simple. Still, he hesitated to push his mentor away. Angeal wanted to know that he still had someone on his side, after both Genesis and Angeal himself had defected separately from SOLDIER. He wanted to know he could trust Zack.

 _Aerith helped me when I asked her to,_ Zack couldn't help thinking, despite his reservations. _She didn't know whether she could really trust me to keep my word, but she chose to help me anyway. And where would I be right now without her?_

He sighed and bowed his head, wondering if he would regret this choice later. "All right... I'll help you." He turned to face Angeal, only to find that his mentor was no longer standing where he'd been a moment before.

His mentor grabbed him around the waist, and despite his protests, carried Zack to the Shinra building, where he deposited him beside Sephiroth, who was already in the midst of battle. Masamune flashed in the electric lighting as the silver-haired SOLDIER felled enemy after enemy. He glanced back at them with cat-like eyes as they arrived, seemingly unsurprised by Angeal's presence.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Zack called, running up to join him.

"You're late," Sephiroth observed shortly.

Angeal narrowed his eyes at his friend. "Sephiroth, have you lost weight?"

"Humph." He looked away. Zack hadn't noticed the change, but Sephiroth did look more stressed than he had the last time he'd seen his mentor and the silver-haired SOLDIER in the same room. The Genesis problem had made Shinra's work especially taxing for all of its employees lately.

Zack couldn't help thinking of what Sephiroth had said just this morning. _Our current situation rests in a precarious balance. The defining events to disrupt it may unfold at any time, without warning. Those things might occur several months from now, but they could just as easily happen tomorrow._

He met Sephiroth's eyes questioningly. A ghost of a smile flitted across the older SOLDIER's face, and he shook his head. _Not yet._

The end of their battle with Genesis wasn't here yet.

But when it was, Zack knew he wouldn't be distracted anymore and he wouldn't falter. He would throw himself wholeheartedly into battle beside Angeal and Sephiroth. They could count on him. When the end did come, he would be ready.


	3. To Build the Perfect Flower Wagon

**AN: Sorry again for the wait! Due to its episodic nature (and very long chapters), this story is admittedly much more difficult to write than any of my other projects. Updates will probably always be sporadic, but that does not mean I've forgotten about it or that I'm less dedicated to it than my other stories. Thank you so much for your patience in waiting for this update!**

 **Also, if you're enjoying this story, please take the time to leave a quick review. Even the smallest bit of feedback is really helpful to me!**

* * *

Aerith didn't need to water the flowers anymore, now that the hole in the church opened them to the sky and the rain could fall freely down on them. It was actually kind of soothing, in a lonesome, sleepy way, to sit just out of reach of the water droplets and see them patter gently down on the leaves and blossoms and surrounding dirt. The dry, grayish soil became a richer, darker hue as it was drenched by rainfall.

Aerith sat on the old floorboards, hugging her legs to her chest and trying to stay at least somewhat alert. She'd been having some difficulty sleeping recently, and that left her in somewhat of a continuous daze.

Insomnia wasn't entirely new to her, but there wasn't much she could do about it. The nightmares came and went with seemingly no explanation. It had been years since Aerith and her mother had been in hiding together, but sometimes Aerith woke up in the middle of the night feeling as if someone was chasing her and she wasn't safe. She was reluctant to ever wake up Elmyra with frightened rambling about the fragments of memory that no longer seemed to fit together, but it felt like torture lying silently awake or in a troubled sleep, her heart beating rapidly like the wings of a trapped bird in her chest, until the sun rose and chased away the darkness.

She'd become even more restless after her most recent encounter with Zack, after realizing he was a member of SOLDIER and that he was constantly in danger.

Even the planet, with all its insight into the minds and hearts of the people who lived there, couldn't predict injury and death. What if, after all its insistence that Aerith and Zack were meant to help each other and change each other's lives, Zack was hurt or killed fighting for Shinra? What then?

Aerith sighed, her breath stirring the flowers in front of her. She wished she had a way to contact Zack, to reassure herself that he was okay, but she hadn't thought of exchanging phone numbers with him until after he had already run off.

 _You'll be careful…_ she'd needed to know, _right?_

 _Always am,_ he'd promised.

But sometimes bad things happened no matter how careful you were. Aerith squeezed her eyes tightly shut, trying to block out the memory of that day at the train station. She and Ifalna had been as careful as they could when they escaped from their captors, but they hadn't gotten very far before they were found and her mother had been wounded. Aerith didn't have many memories left from her life before Midgar—she had pushed them to the back of her mind, from where they surfaced only in her dreams—but she would never forget the day her mother died.

How could she?

She had been too shell-shocked to cry then, as Elmyra led her away from the train station, but she had looked back over her shoulder and felt terrible sorrow as she saw the green light of the lifestream descend upon her mother.

And sometimes, even though it had been years since that day, she still woke up with her face wet with tears that she knew were for her mother.

 _Why couldn't we have had an ordinary life together?_ she wondered, wistfully. _Why did we have to be born Cetra in a world full of humans?_ A world where being different, being special, was dangerous. She'd asked the planet that question hundreds of times, with varying degrees of resentment, but it never answered, and eventually she had needed to just accept that she would never know anything else.

And the person who'd fallen into the church, who instantly captured her heart, was part of SOLDIER. He was also different, also in danger. It wasn't safe to care about him. But not caring was something that would never come easily to Aerith. She was too sentimental, too kindhearted to stop caring.

"Where is Zack now?" she asked the planet, closing her eyes wearily. "Will you at least tell me if he's safe?"

But the sound of raindrops against flower petals and gentle wordless murmuring were the only things she heard. The planet was quiet, withholding its answer.

It rained on and off for the next few days. Aerith came to the church every day as soon as she woke up in the morning, went home for lunch, and then came right back until Elmyra called her and told her to come back for dinner. She'd always spent more time at the church than at home, but she went there even more lately. If Zack did come back soon, she wanted to be there.

Eventually, her diligence was rewarded.

"Look at all this rain we've been having," Zack said by way of greeting, grinning as he ran a hand through his soaked black hair. "I figured it was a good time to go beneath the plate and shelter here for a while."

"Zack!" Aerith exclaimed, running over to him. Part of her wanted to throw her arms around him to express her relief, but she stopped short of tackling him and folded them across her chest instead. "What took you so long to get back here? I expected you to at least stop by to let me know you were okay."

"You were worried about me?" he asked, looking far too amused by the idea.

"Of course," she said, frowning. "I saw the look on your face right before you left. You were going to do something dangerous again."

"I'm sorry," he said, sobering a little. "I didn't realize you'd be worried."

"It's okay," she said, softening her expression. "But let me know next time, okay? You don't even have to come all the way back here. Just call me or something." She told him her number, and Zack put it into his phone's contacts.

"You know, this is definitely the most unusual way I've ever gotten a girl's phone number," he said playfully. "Usually they're not so straightforward about it."

"Well, I don't play those kinds of games," Aerith said, keeping her tone light but meaning it all the same. "Usually, it's the boys who are playing them with _me_."

Zack laughed. "I know, you're totally different. I've never met anyone even the slightest bit like you before. But that's one of the things I like about you the most."

She still couldn't help the way her heartbeat quickened and her face flushed when he said things like that. But this time, instead of looking away, she smiled. It was a shy smile, but she still felt bold as she held his gaze. Again, their eye contact lasted a bit too long, became a bit too intense, and they fell into silence.

"So," Zack said, shifting his feet, "if you aren't busy… d'you want to get started on building that flower wagon we talked about last time?"

Aerith tilted her head to one side, amused. "You're really enthusiastic about that, aren't you? To be honest, I thought you were joking when you first mentioned it."

"Not at all!" he responded wholeheartedly, the way he seemed to be wholehearted about every idea he spoke of. His excitement was contagious, and Aerith couldn't help but smile. "I meant it! SOLDIER might be a glamorous job, but it doesn't pay as well as everyone seems to expect. I need all the cash I can get!"

Aerith giggled, and Zack looked pleased.

"All right," she said. "We can start today. I hope you have more of an idea how to make a wagon than I do, because I know nothing about building!"

"Me neither," Zack admitted. "I guess we'll figure it out together."

"Okay," Aerith responded, nodding.

"So first, we get some wood," Zack said, his gaze becoming distant as he focused on some picture in his imagination. "That'll be the best thing to make it out of. Maybe we can paint it with vivid colors to attract more attention. I think green would stand out nicely. There isn't really anything green in Midgar, besides…" He trailed off, paused, and started again, this time on a different subject entirely. "It'll have to have wheels so that we can move it around easily. And it needs to be big enough to keep lots of flowers in, but small enough so that you can push it."

"Mmhmm," Aerith agreed, nodding as she pictured what he had described. She hesitated, then asked, "What were you going to say just now?"

Zack looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"You said 'there aren't a lot of green things in Midgar, besides…' and then never finished what you were saying," she reminded him, tilting her head to one side.

"Oh." He grinned. "I meant your eyes. They're a really pretty color. I've never met anyone with eyes that shade of green before."

"Oh," she echoed, blushing. She was glad that he liked them, not so sure she was glad they were so noticeably different. "Thanks."

Aerith couldn't remember much about her mother, but she knew that Ifalna had had the same green eyes that she saw whenever she looked into the mirror. They were a sign of her Cetra heritage, the one thing she couldn't completely hide. As Zack started to talk about their flower wagon again, she brushed her bangs in front of her eyes as subtly as she could. In her case, being noticed was never a good thing.

"We also need to buy flowerpots so we can transplant the flowers," she reminded Zack, "and sell them intact, so they don't die after only a few days."

"Good idea," he agreed, and Aerith exhaled in relief, glad that she didn't have to argue with him over it. She didn't want to make it any more obvious than necessary that she was physically pained by any damage done to the plants.

For some reason, being near wood didn't bother her the same way, even though it came from chopping down trees. Aerith wasn't sure exactly why. Maybe it was because in a way the tree continued to live on in a different form; it didn't wither away like a picked flower. Parts of her church were made from wood—it had been built before the mako reactor and the plate, when trees hadn't been so hard to come by—and the planet didn't object to being used that way. The murmur of the lifestream still emanated from the wooden beams and rafters, however faintly.

"I know where we can buy those things," Aerith said. "They're not easy to come by in the slums, but I've found some stores that sell them."

"Great," Zack responded, seeming pleasantly surprised.

"They're near the edge of the plate, though," she told him. "Around here, there's usually no need for flowerpots, since the soil is too lifeless for any plants to grow. The saleswoman says that I'm her only customer from the slums. She's gotten to know me pretty well by now; I can never seem to resist bringing one more flower home with me."

Zack smiled. "I don't find that very surprising."

"Good," said Aerith. "If you did, it would mean you don't know me at all."

Zack didn't reply, but his vivid blue eyes looked thoughtful.

"Should we get going?" she suggested, offering her hand.

He took it.

* * *

A few hours later, they'd gathered all the supplies they needed: some old planks of wood, fairly worn but intact tires, nails, used tools, flowerpots, and various colored paints. Thankfully, they'd also unearthed an instruction booklet called "How to Build a Wagon" in one of the shops and decided to buy it.

There was a lot of carry, so they made a few trips to drop things off at the church while they shopped. At last, they returned with the last of their purchases; Zack carried the stack of wood on his shoulders, while Aerith hauled a heavy bucket full of nails and tools. By the time they accumulated everything they'd need, both were exhausted from walking all the way to the edge of the plate and back.

Zack flopped unceremoniously down in one of the pews, sighing and closing his eyes. "I didn't realize that building a wagon would be so much _work_."

"Well, we can't turn back now," Aerith said, hoping he would agree.

"Definitely not," he said, without opening his eyes.

"Maybe we should call it a day, though," she suggested, glancing cautiously at the darkening patch of sky through the hole in the roof. "It's getting late."

"Yeah," Zack agreed, yawning. He ruffled his spiky black hair with one hand in a seemingly absentminded way. "After working at the Shinra building and then coming here and doing more work, it's been a _very_ long day."

Aerith felt a shiver run up her spine whenever she heard the name Shinra. She wasn't entirely sure why, only that the feeling of foreboding was so deeply rooted in her that it felt instinctual. The flowers responded to her wariness with murmurs of warning, sharing her unease when it came to the mako company.

Maybe it was because Elmyra had always been so outspoken in her disapproval of them that Aerith mistrusted Shinra so much. That was certainly one of the reasons she was glad she hadn't told her mother about Zack yet. Elmyra would not be happy that her adopted daughter was spending so much time with someone in SOLDIER.

But despite that, Aerith trusted Zack. If there was anything truly sinister about Shinra, she didn't believe he was part of it.

She wasn't looking forward to introducing Zack to Elmyra. But it was something that she guessed would need to happen eventually, especially if Aerith and Zack ended up in a relationship. She couldn't tell if that was realistically part of their future, though. It was hard to tell if Zack was really interested in her that way or if he only wanted to be friends and had just been teasing her about the date.

 _I wish I knew what he was thinking,_ she thought wistfully, not for the first time. Life would be so much simpler if she could sense his emotions the same way she could the flowers'. Humans were complicated and confusing.

"I can't come tomorrow," he said, looking thoughtful. "I'll be too busy with work. But maybe the day after? I might have a few hours of free time then, assuming no other crisis pops up." He made an unenthusiastic face.

"Sounds good," Aerith agreed, trying not to over think his use of the word 'crisis'. His light tone made it sound like he was joking. She hoped he was.

"Great," he said, beaming. His whole face lit up whenever he grinned like that.

Aerith felt her heart flutter as she smiled shyly back.

He got to his feet and headed for the door, pausing to look back at her and wave. "See you soon, Aerith!" He still had that effortlessly handsome smile on his face.

"See you," she echoed, watching him go.

The light feeling she got whenever she saw him lingered after she left the church, and she didn't notice that she was still smiling to herself until she got home. Elmyra, who was tidying the kitchen, looked up as Aerith entered, greeted her, and then paused, studying her adopted daughter's expression.

"You look cheerful today, Aerith," she observed.

"I had a good day," the younger girl responded, trying to turn her expression back to its normal, pensive look. She could only squash the smile for a few moments before it snuck back onto her face, brighter than ever.

"Are you seeing someone?" her mother asked.

Aerith had been walking past her to deposit her sweater on the hook by the stairs, but paused at Elmyra's question. "What do you mean?"

Elmyra's hands shifted to her hips as she gave Aerith a look of fond exasperation. She tilted her head to one side. "You know what I mean."

"Not really," she answered. "But I did meet… a friend."

"Is he handsome?" her mother asked.

Without really thinking about it, Aerith nodded.

Elmyra grinned triumphantly. "I knew it!"

"Knew what?" Aerith asked, a little pathetically.

Her mother only shook her head and went back to work, still smiling.

* * *

The next time Aerith and Zack met up, they managed to assemble the wagon. It looked far from perfect, but Zack insisted that its slight lopsidedness added character, and Aerith optimistically agreed. The two then opened the cans of paint and set to work brightening their wooden construction with hues of green, blue, and pink.

They sat on either side of the wagon, exchanging small talk as they worked. The flowers hummed peacefully in the background.

"So which flowers are your favorite?" Zack asked.

Aerith thought about it, carefully running the paintbrush along the corner of the wagon. The color, a pale blue, was like a less intense version of Zack's eyes; it was easier to look at than his piercing gaze. "I don't really have a favorite," she responded at last. "I love them all. The more different kinds I have, the better."

To her, the flowers were like children; she couldn't love one more than the others. They each had a slightly different voice in her mind, together forming something like an orchestra of earthen whispers. She didn't want to imagine life without them.

Zack nodded thoughtfully. "What's your favorite color, then?"

"Pink," she answered. "It's a happy color."

"Like your ribbon," he observed, and she nodded, reaching up absentmindedly to touch it. The fabric was soft smooth beneath her fingertips.

"What about you?" she asked. "Which color is your favorite?"

"Green," he responded, grinning in a way that made it impossible to tell whether he was being serious or just teasing her.

"Good thing we bought green paint then," she said, a little helplessly.

She hadn't really been joking, but Zack laughed.

Aerith wasn't sure whether to feel embarrassed or contented. Zack's laughter was a pleasant sound, and it filled her with warmth even when it was at her expense. Even though he teased her, she didn't feel like she was being mocked.

"So what other things do you like to do?" she asked. "Besides tease me?"

She added the second part almost without thinking. It seemed to take Zack by surprise; he just blinked once before he started laughing again.

"I don't mean to pick on you, but… you are fun to tease," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "You're so serious all the time."

"Is that a bad thing?" she asked softly.

"No!" he responded immediately. "Of course not."

Aerith wasn't sure she believed him. Even she wished she could relax sometimes. But she had never really been able to stop worrying, ever since the day Ifalna had died. Pushing her reservations away felt too much like making herself vulnerable.

"How do you do it?" she asked.

Zack had been carefully painting a design on the other side of the wagon but now paused, setting down his brush and looking at her curiously. "What do you mean?"

"Not worry," she said, and it sounded more like a confession than an explanation. "Out of everyone I've ever met, you're the only one who seems totally carefree. You're so lighthearted and you're always smiling. It's not like you don't have problems—I know you do; I heard you talking about them in your sleep. But you're happy anyway."

He studied her expression and seemed to take note of the haunted weariness in it. "The way I see it," he said slowly, "people always have problems. If you don't find a way to be happy despite those problems, you never will be happy."

For a moment, they just looked at each other.

"It isn't always easy," Zack went on. "In fact, it's almost never easy. But you have to just keep trying, you know? Focus on the good things in your life, however small they might seem next to the huge bad things. Then you'll be happier."

"Do you really believe that?" Aerith asked hopefully.

"Absolutely!" he responded, grinning. He paused for a beat before adding, "Also, keep spending time with me. That'll make you happier, too."

She laughed, and they both went back to painting.

"What's your favorite season?" he asked after some time had passed, returning to the lighthearted exchange of questions they'd been asking one another before.

"Spring," she answered immediately.

"Okay, that was pretty obvious," he conceded. "Mine's summer."

"The warm weather?" she guessed.

"Not even," he admitted. "Freedom from school. I've always disliked hard work."

Aerith raised her eyebrows. "How do you feel about this, then?"

"Oh, this doesn't count," he said dismissively. "This is more like a date."

"Is it?"

"Assuming you want it to be," Zack responded, grinning.

Aerith only blushed, not knowing how to reply to that. Zack always seemed to derive some mischievous enjoyment from leaving her tongue-tied and embarrassed by some offhand comment, which was far too easy for him.

"You're teasing me again," she managed at last.

"Am I?"

"You're impossible," she said, shaking her head.

Zack laughed. "I'll take that as a compliment."

In response, Aerith dipped her fingertips into the surface of the paint and then flicked some at him, making Zack yelp in surprise. Taking _him_ off guard for once was admittedly highly satisfying—at least until he flicked green paint back at her.

Aerith retaliated, and the wagon-painting quickly dissolved into splattering each other with different colors of paint. Within a couple of minutes, though, Aerith ducked away, shielding her bow to avoid getting blue splashed on it. "Truce!"

Thankfully, both of them had put on old T-shirts over their clothing, otherwise Aerith's dress and Zack's SOLDIER uniform would have both been stained.

"You started it," Zack said, but he relented, grinning.

"I know," she said, twisting around to make sure none of the paint had gotten on the edges of her dress, which weren't completely covered by their makeshift smocks. "I just don't want to waste all the paint fooling around with it." She looked back up at Zack and had to stifle a giggle. "You have paint all over your face!"

Zack wiped his face. "I guess you have good aim."

He was able to get off most of it, but there was still a little green smudged on his forehead. "Here, let me get the rest of it off for you," Aerith said, taking the wet rag from him and rubbing at the paint-splattered spot.

He closed his eyes as she did so, and it was only then that Aerith realized she was leaning in close enough that she could count his eyelashes if she wanted to. His lashes were thick and dark, the way she would imagine a crow's down to look.

Flustered by their proximity to one another and the sudden feeling of wanting to close what little distance remained between them, Aerith hastily finished scrubbing the last traces of paint off and withdrew her hand.

Zack opened his eyes, their blueness even more dazzling up close. "Better now?"

Not trusting herself to speak properly, Aerith nodded.

They were still standing close enough to each other that she would barely need to lean in for their lips to touch, if she'd wanted to kiss him.

 _Do I want to?_ she asked herself, feeling conflicted.

Despite all the flirtation she'd been on the receiving end of, she'd never kissed anyone before. She hesitated now, unsure of herself, and by the time she'd made up her mind, the moment had passed, Zack expression becoming quizzical instead of earnest. Silently, she handed the rag back to him and pulled away.

They continued painting, but Aerith took on a distracted aura after that, and Zack couldn't get through to her the way he had before.

* * *

The text time they met up, they began transplanting the flowers they intended to sell, choosing the ones that were of a medium size. Aerith couldn't help but feel a little guilty at the thought of getting rid of any of her precious blossoms. She'd taken some of them before, but that was different—she had just moved them to her house. She had no way of knowing whether the people who bought the flowers would take care of them or forget to water them and let them wither away. In addition, she wasn't sure whether the flowers would flourish in anyone's homes besides her own.

Theoretically, plants weren't supposed to be able to grow anywhere in Midgar due to the mako reactors which left the soil lifeless. But a few stubborn, rugged plants had always found a way to grow in the church, and once Aerith started visiting them, become healthier and stronger until they eventually blossomed.

The way flowers bloomed everywhere she spent a lot of time was another obvious sign that she was Cetra. But despite her worry that someone would notice and make the connection, Aerith couldn't bring herself to avoid the church. She couldn't bear the thought that without her, the flowerbed would fall back into hopeless disarray.

Zack, thankfully, didn't seem to suspect anything. Perhaps he assumed that the flowers flourished due to the sacredness of the church—and that certainly could have been true of the scraggly plants which had initially grown there. But he had never come there before Aerith had come and her mere presence had transformed the once pitiful scattering of plants into an entire garden.

That didn't stop him from expressing curiosity about it, though.

"Why do the flowers grow here when they can't anywhere else?" he wondered, as he watched Aerith carefully uproot a yellow-flowered plant. "Do you know?"

Aerith's heartbeat sped up in alarm, but she tried not to show it. "When I first came to the church, they were already growing here, but they weren't so healthy," she said, trying to phrase the truth in a way that sounded less obviously supernatural than it had actually been. "But they're survivors. With a little care from me, they began to flourish. Maybe it's something about the soil here."

"Or maybe it's you," Zack said teasingly. "Aerith the flower-whisperer."

Aerith inwardly winced. He didn't know it, but he'd hit the nail on the head. Her attempts to disguise the truth didn't change the fact that the connection was obvious.

"Don't be silly," she said, her voice catching a little.

"I wasn't trying to be," he said, studying her seriously. "There's something about you that's different, besides just your personality. I don't know what it is, but…"

"No." Aerith didn't want to hear it; she had to fight the urge to press her hands against her ears and physically block out his words. "It's the church that's special, not me. I already told you, the plants were growing here before I got here."

"You haven't always lived in Midgar?" Zack asked, letting it go.

"For most of my life, I have," she answered cautiously. "But I came to the slums when I was little. My mother's never liked to explore the city, so we didn't venture as far as this church. I found my way here on my own years later, when I was old enough to explore Midgar by myself." That was all she could say; she couldn't tell him how she'd discovered it, how she'd heard someone—Ifalna's spirit—calling her there.

"I only came here when I joined SOLDIER," Zack said.

"Is it very different from where you're from?" Aerith asked, packing soil into the pot around the flower's roots. She had no way to picture what the outside world might be like, having seen it only in bits and pieces while on the run, and her phobias of the sky and her heritage being noticed stifled any desire she might have to explore. She couldn't help but feel at least a little curious, though.

"Extremely," he answered, remembering. "It's so crowded here… and lifeless."

"Is it really so bad?" she wondered aloud. True, there wasn't any greenery, and the slums were stricken with poverty, but it was home.

"I don't know how you stand it," he admitted.

"Under the plate is the only place I feel secure," she told him, looking resolutely at the flowerpot instead of at him. "Afraid of the sky, remember?"

"Yeah," he said thoughtfully. As if he was trying to understand.

Aerith turned abruptly toward him with one of the empty pots. "Are you going to help me with this or not?"

He accepted it, grinning playfully. "I wanted to, but I wasn't sure you would trust me to handle your precious flowers."

"You're allowed to if you're careful," she said, attempting a stern expression.

"I'll do my best to live up to your standards."

"Good. I'll be watching you." She didn't really have to, though. She'd feel it if he started manhandling them.

"Duly noted," he quipped, and got to work.

Aerith put the flower she'd already transplanted in the wagon, and took another of the empty pots. She and Zack worked in companionable silence, with the white noise of the flowers' whispering filling Aerith's ears.

* * *

Eventually, after days of preparation, they were ready to start selling flowers.

Zack and Aerith filled the wagon with the flowers they'd transplanted and headed for the shopping area in the central slums.

"Excited?" Zack asked as they guided the cart through the church's arching doors, grinning at her over the top of their creation.

"A little nervous," she admitted.

"That's understandable," he responded, "but don't be. This is it, Aerith! We're going to be rich _and_ we're going to make Midgar a brighter place."

"What if no one buys any flowers?" she asked quietly.

"They will," he said, with not even a tiny shred of her doubt. "Trust me. They're beautiful, and being sold by an even more beautiful girl. Who could resist?"

"I think you're biased," she said faintly, but the confidence in his words did make her feel better. That and the gentle whispering of the flowers, which almost allowed her to forget that she was no longer in the reassuring solitude of the church.

It wasn't much longer before they reached the park in the central slums, which they'd agreed was the best place to attract customers. Now all they had to do was wait.

For a while, she and Zack stood together in silence, watching people walk past. A few passersby glanced curiously over at their wagon, but quickly averted their eyes when Zack or Aerith tried giving them encouraging smiles. While some were interested in the idea of someone selling flowers, they clearly weren't willing to spend their money on decorative items when necessities were difficult enough to afford.

"Nobody's coming…" Aerith said, disappointed.

"Just give it a little more time," Zack encouraged her. "A lot of people will come, you'll see!"

"Hmm… I think it's maybe because the wagon doesn't look very nice," she said, feeling suddenly dissatisfied with its lopsidedness and gaudy paint. It was certainly eye-catching, but not in a good way. Aerith's heart sank.

Just as Zack opened his mouth to object, Aerith looked up from their less-than-impressive creation and saw another person giving their flowers an appraising glance. "Oh, a customer!"

Zack got a determined glint in his eye, and ran over to the man. "Hey, you there! Wanna buy some flowers? 10 gil a pot! That's a special one-day offer! You're not gonna find a better price anywhere!" He gave the man a winning smile, choosing not to bring up the fact that their potential customer wouldn't find flowers anywhere else.

Aerith couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm.

"Aerith," he called excitedly, running back to her. "This customer will buy if you can go down to 5 gil."

"Sure!" she said, brightening. "Any price is fine." After all, sharing their beauty with the rest of the slums was more important to her than making a profit.

"No, we have to be a little more aggressive than that," Zack said decisively. "I'll renegotiate for 7 gil."

"But…" Aerith protested, and then realized that the man had continued on his way without waiting for their response. "The customer just left…"

Zack turned and sighed as he realized she was right. "I'm sorry, Aerith…"

For a moment, Aerith was sorely disappointed by their failure to sell even a single pot of flowers. She'd known that not many people had the extra money to spare, but she hadn't expected so few people to inquire about their sale.

Then Zack's words from a few days ago came floating back to her mind. _You have to just keep trying, you know? Focus on the good things in your life, however small they might seem next to the huge bad things. Then you'll be happier._

"Why are you sorry?" she asked, trying to infuse her words with some of Zack's usual optimism. "I'm having such a wonderful time, because you're here with me." She smiled at him, realizing as she spoke that it was the truth.

He looked surprised, then pleased.

"Hey look, Zack!" she said, spotting someone else glance over at them. "Another customer!" This time, she ran over, telling the boy about her mission to fill the city with flowers and her willingness to negotiate over the price.

They went on like that for a while, eventually managing to sell a few of the plants. Aerith wouldn't describe the endeavor as profitable, but even if they'd only sold one, it still would have felt like a success to her.

Then Zack's cell phone rang. Aerith glanced at him as he raised it to his ear, and saw his naturally bright expression fade as he listened to what the person on the other side had to say. He responded briefly, his tone marked by an atypical seriousness, and then slid his phone back into his pocket.

Zack turned to Aerith, and she felt her heart sink, knowing what he was going to say a moment before he did. "I have to go." He took in her worried expression and touched her cheek gently, adding "I'll be careful. Promise."

"Okay," she said faintly, feeling empty as she watched him go and the warmth his fingertips has left on her skin slowly faded away.

* * *

It felt wrong continuing on without Zack, so Aerith returned their wagon to the church shortly after he left and then went home.

She had just gotten ready for bed when her phone began to ring. Looking at the screen display, she saw that it was an unfamiliar number calling her. Aerith wasn't sure whether she should answer it or not. There were lots of friendly faces in the slums, but none of them had her cell phone number. Most of the people living here couldn't afford their own personal phones—Elmyra had only bought Aerith one because she knew her daughter often wandered and wanted to be able to contact her if she got worried.

Aerith's hand hovered hesitantly over the phone for a long moment before she picked it up and pressed a button to answer the call. "Hello?"

"Hi, Aerith," said a voice that was more familiar than the number.

"Zack?" she asked tentatively, wondering why he'd called her so late at night.

"I just wanted to let you know that I'm doing okay," he responded, and she could hear the grin in his words, see it in her mind's eye. "In case you were worried."

She laughed, but inwardly felt touched. The tight feeling which had lingered in her chest over the course of the day loosened. "Thank you, Zack."

He chuckled, his laughter light and lovely. "Anytime."

They didn't say much else before ending the call, just exchanged some banter and then wished each other goodnight, but Aerith felt a comfortable warmth in her chest which lasted much longer than the duration of the conversation. It stayed with her as she switched off the lamp on her bedside table and curled up beneath the blankets.

When she fell asleep that night, she didn't have nightmares. She dreamed only of the boy with spiky black hair and mako-blue eyes, his cheek smudged with dirt (and a little bit of green paint) as he sat surrounded by flowers.


End file.
